People v. Destin

OPINION OF THE COURT

Acosta, J.

This appeal calls for us to revisit the assumption-of-identity element of the crime of identity theft in the context of a defendant’s attempt to cash a counterfeit check payable to her, by submitting personal identification showing her name and by signing her name on the back of the check when asked to endorse it. As this Court has held, the assumption of another’s identity “is a separate and essential element of the offense of identity theft which must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt” (People v Barden, 117 AD3d 216, 227 [1st Dept 2014], revd on other grounds…